How Newt (and right wing radio) ruined political discourse

[NJMaverick]

Quote:He went on to give those Republicans who wanted to "speak like Newt" a list of "contrasting words" that he urged them to use in their campaigns: "These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party."
The list included several words and phrases that are by now routinely batted about in the course of public commentary about the opposing party, usually by Republicans against Democrats because, after all, Gingrich and Luntz were the masterminds: "betray," "bizarre," "cheat," "corrupt," "destroy," "endanger," "greed," "hypocrisy," "ideological," "incompetent," "liberal," "lie," "machine," "mandate," "pathetic," "radical," "sick," "taxes," "traitors," "unionized," "waste" and "welfare." There were many more listed.
I'm not going to dwell on the supreme, well, hypocrisy of the fact that Gingrich's lexicon includes the words "hypocrisy" and "ideological." I will simply credit him with a superb understanding of the strong emotional undercurrents that govern political choices -- not to mention the power of using words as weapons.

Quote:The Gingrich style also had a corrosive effect on the Republican electorate. Republican pols may have understood that they were using vicious rhetoric merely as a "key mechanism of control," but their voters weren't in on the game.
So once GOP politicians began describing their Democratic opponents as "corrupt traitors," their constituents began to believe that was true. Given that, you can understand why many ultraconservative voters would view compromise or cooperation with Democrats as akin to betrayal.

http://news.yahoo.com/newts-combative-rh...13958.html

[Treestar]

People need to realize they have to think for themselves. There is a laziness that allows people like Newt, and the media to direct their thoughts. I sometimes talk to people who are up on the latest talking points (like worrying about the price of gas, which had not concerned them before) and wonder do they realize how manipulated they are? They worry about the issues they are told to worry about and talk about what the media chooses to talk about.

[Ikonoklast]

Newt will then also be the one to take the blame for destroying the modern Republican Party.

He was the one that drove the wedge between any moderates and the various Hate Wing factions of the party, Balkanizing it in the process.

We are seeing the end result of that strategy. The Republican Party is in a very precarious position, it is a brittle coalition that is danger of being completely fractured because of what people the likes of Gingrich have done to it.

[Velleity]

I would like to see some really good scholarly studies done on this. The best thing I've seen is Hofstaddter http://www.amazon.com/Anti-Intellectuali...0394703170

[jaxx]

"a culture of outlandish rhetoric"

That describes the wingers speeches, comments and outlook. It is amazing how the words creep into the everyday language of the GOP and it's followers, sort of like their political bible. Divide and conquer....only thing is they are now conquering themselves.

[KonaKane]

I have long been doggedly curious about exactly when the "culture of personal destruction" and its attendant hatespeak began, or who might have spawned it. I thought it was Limbaugh, and put it down to the advent of Ronny Reagan. But this article has me sincerely rethinking that idea.

[Velleity]

But we have seen all of this from "conservatives" in the past. It is not something new or recent.